


Redeemable

by Headfangs



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Doctors & Physicians, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-09 09:52:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17404709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Headfangs/pseuds/Headfangs
Summary: Life At Kikumaru's Bakery gets turned upside down when a hot young doctor moves into the office next door. Come for the Golden Pair, stay for Fuji using the phrase, "hot meat injection." Rated T for minor language.





	Redeemable

**Author's Note:**

> This was a fill for SASO 2017, original prompt by raernix here: https://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/21522.html?thread=10290194#cmt10290194

Working in a bakery for the past few years, Eiji was used to early mornings. It was after all, when he did most of his business— providing on-the-go breakfasts for rushing high school students, or break room batches of donuts for nearby office workers. It wasn’t atypical then that he was awake near dawn, listening to the neighboring building rattling and humming from his small apartment over his workplace, and nursing an iced coffee before the work day. Downstairs, the air was acidic with the scent of fresh carpeting being laid, and the paint drying on the new sign above the door. He’d known for a few months now that the glasses shop next door was being converted into a doctor’s office, he just hadn’t expected it’d take an entire week.

“They almost done?” A yawn weaved its way through Eiji’s words as he came down, his co-owner already wiping down a set of racks.

“Had enough of the noise?” Fuji smiled.

“The crew is here _so_ early.” Eiji answered, exasperated and mussing his hair with his hands.

“Well, they must be close. I ran into the doctor himself on my way in.”

There was a pregnant pause that followed, and Eiji busied himself by taking the chairs off of the tabletops. “So?”

Fuji swallowed a chuckle, “He seems nice. A bit scatterbrained at the moment though.”

Another metallic-sounding rattle shook their feet, presumably a carpet cleaner or medical equipment being installed.

“Maybe I’ll go say hi,” muttered Eiji, righting the last of the chairs and meeting Fuji’s gaze curiously. The two of them had been friends long enough that there was often more said between their words than within them, and he could sense Fuji was baiting a hook for him.

“I think that’s a good idea.”

Out front, Eiji replaced the bakery’s chalk sandwich board on the sidewalk, just _curiously_ poking his head around the neighboring facade to see if he could catch a glimpse of anyone not wearing sleeveless shirts and plastic baggies on their shoes. Soon enough, a young man with dark cropped hair and a leather bag against his chest wandered out, checking his watch and seemingly oblivious to the world around him. 

Their new neighbor was very handsome— in that clean-cut sort of way—square shoulders filling out a long-sleeved dress shirt and hair slicked back tightly against his head. And that wasn’t even getting into the gorgeous deep green of his eyes, a color that saturated under the glint of the early morning sun. Eiji sipped the coffee in his hand long enough the ice cubes danced under his nose and made him flinch, interrupting his lingering stare.

“Hey, you must be the new neighbor!” He’d decided to greet cheerily, hoping to will himself out of his embarrassing open-mouthed gawking.

All of Eiji’s preconceived notions about this stoic, serious stranger scattered at the same time Oishi’s papers had, knocked out of his own hands with surprise by the sound of Eiji’s voice. The doctor hurried to bend down and retrieve them with a nervous chuckle, “A-ah, I’ll be moving in soon,” he nodded in the redhead’s direction, eyes drawn upwards to the sign next door, “Oishi Shuichiro. It’s nice to meet you.” Eventually he’d juggled his paperwork under his arm, and reached out to shake Eiji’s hand.

Damn. Somehow all that clumsy fumbling was completely doing Eiji in— disarming him. “Ki-Kikumaru Eiji,” he took the man’s hand with feigned confidence, even as his heart was drumming on his insides. “It’s nice to meet you.”

They both held onto the shake a little longer than they needed to.

“It’ll be nice to have a place to get breakfast in the morning,” Said Oishi with a smile.

“Of course! You’re welcome anytime.”

That had been the extent of their conversation, as Oishi turned to busy himself reading over a collection of construction receipts, and Eiji slinked backwards into his shop, tripping his own doorbell.

Fuji was standing there, arms across his chest, and smiling slyly.

“So?”

“S-so what,” Eiji stammered, trying to find something around the bakery to do.

“I knew he was your type.”

“I don’t have a _type_.” The word was weighed down with air quotes. It was true, Eiji ricocheted in taste from one crush to the next— one day it was a shy girl in pigtails, the next it was a tall man in thin-rimmed glasses, or a… shy doctor with pale golden skin and a gentle handshake. The inside of Eiji’s hand still prickled with warmth, and he felt like he was in middle school again.

Fuji shook his head, “Whatever you say, Eiji. Just make sure he leaves through the back door. It would be untoward for him to walk right from your apartment into his office.”

By now, Eiji’s face was burning, “I told you—”

Waving his hand nonchalantly, Fuji disappeared into the kitchen. “So maybe I’ll ask him out then, hm.”

“ _Fuji!_ ”

———

A few days later, and the loud, hollow racket had died down a little next door– replaced by the occasional new employee buzzing in and out of the front door, carrying papers or re-organizing the file drawers. Eiji watched from his second story window, his blinds half-drawn, attempting to look casual.

The doctor himself only came out once or twice, and that was more than enough to make Eiji’s heart flutter wildly. Before he knew it, his head was in his hand and his blue eyes were hooded, his gaze far off. Oishi alternated between moving gracefully— his long fingers curling over a pen and twirling it in his hand and hooking it under the clip in his clipboard, to stammering nervously to a receptionist and completely losing his cool. In anyone else, Eiji might have thought that behavior was lame, or embarrassing. But with Oishi, it just made him all the more charming. From what little he could see of his body language, and the few words he caught on the wind, Oishi was sweet, and patient, and his voice was always soft. Below him, he heard Oishi laugh at something his receptionist told him, and his chest burned with warmth.

Cursing under his breath, Eiji forced himself to step away from his kitchen table and take a breath. He was beginning to feel like a hormonal teenager again– obsessing over some classmate he barely knew. What was he supposed to do now? Tuck a note under the office door saying, ‘Do You Like Me? Yes/No’?

Tugging his shirt over his head and stepping into his shoes casually as he broached the stairway between his home and work, Eiji visibly deflated. Flirting was one thing. Finding someone attractive was one thing. Having a crush was exhausting. Every little thing Oishi did demanded his attention, and drove him crazy. Fuji could see it in his unusually tired eyes.

“Rough night? You weren’t drinking with Momo again, were you?”

“Mrr…”

Though Eiji looked tired, he didn’t quite look hungover. Fuji smiled, “Have you had a chance to talk to him again?” 

“He looks busy.”

“I think he was looking for you earlier.”

Eiji’s shoulders squared and his cheeks puffed up, and Fuji cut him off before he could start, “I’m serious, Eiji. Earlier this morning he walked by the shop a few times and glanced over but never came in.”

“Maybe he thought the store was closed…”

“I was here. Don’t I have a friendly, welcoming face, Eiji?”

Eiji distinctly declined to answer, and his friend readily filled the silence. “Just offer to treat him to something on the menu. A welcoming gift.” Honestly, Eiji was hopeless sometimes. 

Fuji’s fingers coasted over a small stack of paper beside the cash register, “Here, we still have these coupons left over from the holiday. Now you have reason to talk to him, ne?” Fuji tucked a strand of honey-colored hair behind his ear, retrieving a pen from the countertop and crossing out the expiration date on the back of the coupon, and scribbling in another date. There. The pair of them officially had a month to work this situation out. Or no free cinnamon bread.

Admitting defeat, Eiji took the handful of coupons and sulked off toward the front door like a kid who was being forced to socialize. In a way, he was. Were it up to him, Eiji would prefer just to admire Oishi from afar and let his daydreams carry him where they may. Right now he was particularly fixated on the image of Oishi’s head in his lap as he fed him freshly-baked pull-apart bread… Oh geez, now his heart was racing again.

By the time he came out front, the young doctor had already gone back inside. Quelling his nerves, Eiji pushed through the doorway into a very new, fresh-smelling office. A receptionist and another woman in scrubs debated over a file from behind a computer screen. Luckily, Oishi happened to be standing in the waiting room. In his crisp white doctor’s coat and a thin pair of glasses. Eiji struggled to regain his composure.

“I hope you’re not busy,” Said Eiji sunnily, masking any and all nervousness in an incandescent smile.

Oishi lit up when he noticed it was Eiji– though that could have just been the reflection off Eiji’s beaming smile. “O-oh, no. I only have a couple appointments today. Is there something you need? I hope you’re not in need of a doctor already,” Oishi quipped, his hands on his hips.

Eiji giggled at what wasn’t a particularly funny joke, feeling his toes wiggle in his shoes like a child. Dammit, Eiji. Get it together! “I wanted to give you a few coupons, on behalf of Kikumaru’s Bakery. Sort of a welcoming present.”

“Oh, thank you, Kikumaru-san.” Oishi said, taking the stack in his hand and tucking them into his shirt pocket, suddenly remembering he’d promised to come by for breakfast earlier. He hoped he hadn’t hurt Eiji’s feelings. “I know I promised to come by, but it’s just been so busy here–”

“I understand! It must be hectic, moving everything over nya.”

Oishi blinked once at the curious ‘nya,’ smiling anyway. “It is, and this is my first practice, so there are still a lot of things I’m learning in the process.” He tucked his glasses up over the bridge of his nose with the side of his thumb, his gaze focused on Eiji in a way that was making him squirm internally.

Ah, why did he have to be so hot… And those eyes were far greener up close. The way Oishi’s chest and arms flexed against the fabric of his shirt as he pocketed the coupons certainly hadn’t gone unnoticed by Eiji either. The redhead had been starving himself for the past few days, and was now happily drinking Oishi in. 

Suddenly, he came out of his fog with a start, swallowing the lump in his throat and folding his arms behind his head in a sense of faux relaxation. “Haha, well, that was all I came by for. Please come by any time,” he turned his attention to the women behind the counter, nodding in their direction, “and you too, of course. Welcome to the neighborhood.” Okay, now Eiji’s feet were beginning to prickle, eager to escape the monumental weight of his crush and slink back into the comfort of his bakery.

Eiji was shuffling back in a hurry when he returned, face beet red as he relived their conversation over and over again in his mind, anxious he hadn’t said the right thing. And was he giving the right impression? Or coming on too strong? Not strong enough?

“How did it go?”

“I gave him the coupons…”

“Well, well. Don’t give me all the salacious details at once,” Fuji teased, watching his friend tug a black apron over his head. “He’ll come by when it dies down over there, I’m sure.”

A ring at their own door from a trio of customers cut their conversation short for the time being.

——— 

“It’s been two weeks,” Eiji mumbled into his own sleeve, moping through the late afternoon at the small cafe table in the corner, and chewing on the last of the morning’s donuts before they went stale. He was the picture of self pity. Fuji might feel a little sorrier for him if he hadn’t fallen so swift and hard for a man, though very handsome, he barely knew. 

Fuji tossed a napkin Eiji’s way, “Maybe he’s not a breakfast person.”

“Maybe he’s not a Kikumaru person…”

“Now you’re just being dramatic,” Fuji said, growing weary of Eiji’s newest obsession. As long as he’d known him, Eiji had been the type to go all-in on any subject– whether it be baking or video games, or apparently boys. At the moment, Oishi was all he could focus on, and Fuji bore the brunt of his dreamy ramblings about how sweet his smile was, or how soft his hands had been. It really was quite sickening. An unsafe work environment.

Eiji drew invisible lines in the top of the wooden table with his fingertip, his lips so pouty it muffled his speech, “I bet he’s married.” He heaved a sigh at his own hypothetical, and buried his face in his folded arms, and getting reacquainted with the tabletop.

Fuji chuckled, “So you think he understood you were interested in him?”

“Not exactly,” Usually Eiji had no trouble flirting– it was almost a second language for him. But Oishi intimidated him, especially in that doctor’s coat and freshly-ironed shirt, and any hopes he had of toying with the poor man were quashed under that kind, sensitive look of his.

“Men are thick, Eiji. You have to be bold, or they just won’t get it,” Fuji spoke from experience, having frequently chased young men with the social awareness of a stack of bricks. “Tuck the coupons into his pants pocket yourself, or ask for his company with a whisper–”

“Ah mou, enough!” Eiji could feel his face flushing a deep red, and scrambling to think of absolutely anything else. “I get it, I get it.”

Fuji boxed up the last of a pack of bread twists into a box, keenly aware of how little work his supposed co-owner had done within the past week. He wondered if lovesickness counted as sick leave. “And I can’t believe you doubt my observational skills. Do you think I would have pointed him out to you if I believed he was married?” Fuji tapped his own bare finger for emphasis, “No ring. Not even a tan line.” His voice was low, and his eyes sharp. Very few things in life got past Fuji.

Eiji watched as a pair of older women crossed the glass door of their bakery and made a beeline for the doctor’s office. “Maybe not, but I think he’s growing a fanclub.”

“Everyone needs a doctor, Eiji. Not every patient is looking for a hot meat injection.”

Faking a dry heave, Eiji shook his head fiercely, “Eugh, don’t say that again.”

“He does seem to have a lot of female patients. Though it might be too much to read into that.” Fuji said, batting his friend around a bit like a cat with a toy. He didn’t want to see Eiji hurt, certainly (and he’d see to it whoever did would leave this earth hurting far more), but he didn’t want to completely get his hopes up over one guy. No matter how dreamy he might be.

Meanwhile next door, another young woman arrived at the doctor’s office– her dark hair long and pinned with a clip on the top of her head, dressed as if she’d just come from an office job. It struck Eiji how close in age she looked to Oishi, something that caused his eyes to hone in on her like a hawk. Before tugging open the door, she stopped briefly to admire the painted sign above, then stepped through the threshold, the doctor running to join her in the doorway.

Eiji hurried out of his chair and wedged himself into the nearby corner booth so he could keep them both in his sights. By now, curiosity had gotten the better of Fuji too, and he crammed his body against Eiji’s, pretending to wipe off the tabletop with a rag.

There was a lot of laughter in the doctor’s office, and muffled words in an ecstatic tone. The young woman tucked her hair behind her ear and very suddenly launched herself at the doctor, who had been more than ready to catch her. The strong arms Eiji had spent the last few days admiring looped around the woman affectionately, and tugged her close, toppling the silly manufactured daydreams Eiji had spent a week concocting in a matter of seconds.

The focus left Eiji’s eyes, his gaze clouded and far off as Oishi and the woman separated and laughed some more, boisterous and glowing. The leather of the booth creaked under his weight, breaking the still silence of the empty bakery, and kicking him out of his own thoughts.

This time, Fuji opted to say nothing as his friend slid out of his seat, and drew the canvas blinds over the glass door, then the storefront. His heart felt like it’d been wrenched from his chest, empty and hollow where his blossoming crush had been, the remaining ache just guilt. Guilt, because Oishi had never belonged to him in the first place, he’d just let his imagination get out of control. 

Of _course_ Oishi had a girlfriend. And of _course_ she was pretty. Eiji was uncharacteristically flat, handling the rest of his kitchen duties in silence. Fuji helped him, because it was the only thing he could think _would_ help.

“I can lock up,” Eiji offered.

“Eiji, I’m sorry for getting your–” 

The redhead shook his head, lifting a hand to silence Fuji before he could go any further, “It’s fine,” he laughed, clearly hurt, “I let it get out of control. I’m glad he’s happy.”

“Hm. I’d still like to kill him.”

“ _Fuji._.”

——— 

A couple more weeks had gone by, and Eiji had poured himself into his work– rushing through orders in the kitchen, taking phone calls, and greeting customers like old friends. In a matter of days, he endeavored to make the inside of his bakery so lively and busy that whatever happened outside would feel like a distant memory. He’d see Oishi once or twice a week when their schedules lined up and they arrived at work the same day, but other than that, he could simply pretend the office next door was still vacant. In some time he’d get over it, find some new cute boy or girl to obsess over, and the dreamy-eyed doctor would be nothing more than his office neighbor.

Naturally, Fuji had fallen in-step with the new program, helping Eiji add a couple more items of his choosing to their regular rotation–a cheese bread and a cherry tart–both of which were already selling well to their regulars. By the time Friday rolled around, their display case had been ransacked and picked nearly clean. All of Eiji’s muscles ached, but it was a good, satisfying feeling.

He stretched his arms above his head and bent his fingers back until they cracked audibly, “Ahh, it’s finally died down,” he laughed. “I didn’t count on that entire kindergarten class coming by.”

“They were cute though,” Fuji remarked, cleaning up the cupcake wrapper chaos they’d left in their wake.

“Hehe, best part is now they’re hopped up on sugar and not our problem anymore.”

“Are you planning on starting a tiny child uprising, Eiji?”

“You make it sound nefario–”

The bell on their front door chimed. It wasn’t just before five.

Eiji turned, already counting the money in the register for the night, “Ah sorry, we’re clo…” his voice trailed, his one time imaginary doctor boyfriend in the doorway, shyly ducking under the bell.

“Oh, did I come too late?” Oishi asked, his coupons in-hand, “I-I realized these expired today. I didn’t want to let them go to waste after you offered them.” He rolled his shirt off of his wrist to check the time, “Ah, sorry. I thought I could just make it. My last appointment ran a little long.”

Fuji’s eyes darted between the two of them. The tension was palpable, even if Oishi hadn't known he’d been the cause of it. The brown-haired young man smiled gently, “Those expiration dates aren’t strict. You can come back next week if it’s easie–”

“No, it’s okay.” Eiji interrupted. “I can get you something. Please, have a seat nya.”

Letting a look linger on Eiji, Fuji decided he knew what he was doing, and nodded, returning to the back kitchen to retrieve what they had left.

Oishi found a seat in the corner, feeling rather foolish that he was being served by himself, and holding them up. “I’m sorry. I can always come back another time,” he offered, trying to meet Eiji’s increasingly flighty gaze.

Eiji grinned, “It’s fine. I live upstairs, so you’re not keeping me.” He took the liberty of picking up the top coupon on Oishi’s stack, flattening it with a snap in his fingers, “How about we redeem this one today? Raspberry cheesecake sound good?”

Oishi nodded. “That’s fine. Thank you again.”

When they were both back in the kitchen, Fuji eyed his friend warily, “It’s fine, with him here?”

“He’s a customer,” Eiji answered simply, taking a pre-sliced cheesecake from the refrigerator, and piping a dollop of cream on top. “Fuji. You can go home, I’m fine. Really. It was just a stupid crush. It… would be pretty dumb to hold it against him.”

Fuji was still skeptical, but agreed to head home, knowing he’d miss his train if he waited any longer. “Well when you need the body buried, you know where to find me,” he said sardonically.

Eiji giggled, taking the small plate out to his lone customer.

… It still hurt. He couldn’t pretend he was entirely content with this situation, especially when Oishi greeted his return with such a sweet, genuine smile, and their fingers curled around each other as the plate was handed off. He was still obnoxiously handsome, and smart, and kind. Things that made for a good boyfriend. For someone else.

Eiji decided to pull up the chair across from him, joining him at the small round table with a tired groan. “Was your day as long as ours?”

Oishi laughed, and Eiji was immediately reminded of his uproarious laughter with his girlfriend. It still stung a bit. “I don’t imagine it could have been. I saw quite a crowd out front, were you giving things away for free?” He sliced off the end of the cheesecake with his fork, and popped it into his mouth slowly– not wanting to let on just how hungry he was after skipping lunch. Almost immediately, his smile widened, reaching his eyes, “That’s delicious, Kikumaru-san. I can see why you’re so… I mean, the bakery, is so popular.”

“You’ve been getting pretty popular yourself,” teased Eiji, having to fold his arms over the table to avoid the temptation of swiping any of the cheesecake with the tip of his finger. “Lots of patients?” _And your girlfriend?_

“A few,” Oishi was… more than a little embarrassed by the young women who came by, some without appointments, and others just to say hello. Worse were the older women who seemed very clearly to be fishing out a future son-in-law. A bit of pink dusted across his cheeks as he worked his way down the thin slice, which tasted like heaven after a solid week of microwaved noodles and vending machine soups. He found himself trying to understand the glamor of a doctor’s job these women were so desperate to latch onto.

Finally, Eiji couldn’t take the dancing around anymore, he had to know for sure. Then he could put this whole immature crush behind him. “There was a girl who stuck to you like glue,” he grinned, “an over-enthusiastic patient?”

“Who stuck to me…?”

“A couple weeks ago.”

Oishi stopped, his eyes drifting upwards as if searching his memory, “OH! M-my younger sister came by.” He could definitely see how her affectionate antics could be misinterpreted, “Yeah, she wanted to see how the place was looking. She got really excited with our family name on the front and all,” he admitted sheepishly, not wanting to dwell too long on his own accolades. His parents had done enough of that since his graduation from medical school, his residency, and beyond.

Sister. _Sister?!_ All of his angsting and moping had been about Oishi’s _sister_?!

A monumental weight lifted off of Eiji’s shoulders, the cloud that had been murking up the air between them dissipating, for the moment. And just like that, Eiji could feel the little inkling of a crush– the tiny flame on the wick in his chest flare up wildly again– Oishi’s handsome face, his cute smile, his soft expression… all had his insides melting away pleasantly. The butterflies in his stomach were just a bonus.

And knowing that, sitting and eating alone together as the sun came down felt a _bit_ … like a date.

“Your sister,” Eiji finally repeated, unable to keep his feet from swivelling back and forth under the table, “Fuji and I thought… haha, well. Nevermind.”

Oishi reached the crust of his complimentary cheesecake rather quickly, and let it crumble a bit under the tenuous touch of his fork, stalling for time. “I… um, wanted to ask you about something.”

Eiji’s heart drummed against the inside of his ribs until it ached. “Y-yes?”

“About this,” The young doctor hesitantly took out the remaining few bakery coupons he’d been given, neatly folded from his pocket. “What… it said on here,” he clarified, his eyebrows knitted.

“The writing? We crossed out the old dates, don’t worry about it. They’re old tickets, but they’re good anytime you want to use them.”

Oishi’s expression contorted, “N-no, not. That. I mean this note.” For clarity’s sake, and because he didn’t want to recite it aloud himself, he simply handed the coupon over, and made a motion with his finger as a sign to flip it over.

Curious, Eiji flipped it, finding a scribbled note in what was certainly Fuji’s handwriting reading, 

_“Coupon: Two of our buns for two of yours.”_

Eiji balked. And Oishi went red watching him read it.

He cleared his throat. “So. I-I just… wanted to know what you meant… by that.”

_F-Fuji…! I’m going to kill you!_ Eiji’s blue eyes were wide, his face nearly as red as the raspberry sauce left on Oishi’s plate. Once he’d finished internally dying inside, he shakily handed the coupon back. “Fuji, my co-owner, must have written that. Not me.”

“Oh,” There was a hint of disappointment in Oishi’s voice, then sheer confusion. 

“Then ...Kikumaru-san, I think your friend might have a crush on me.”

“N-no, he definitely doesn’t,” Eiji’s heart was now well on its way to leaping out of his throat, “Fuji just… tells a lot of weird jokes.” Weird jokes that got him into serious trouble.

Oishi’s demeanor seemed to deflate, “I see.”

A stretch of silence passed between them, and Eiji seemed to pick up what Oishi had left unsaid.

“You… wanted it to be me?”

Oishi’s fork clattered onto the plate loudly as his fingers fumbled it right across the table.

Eiji meanwhile, perked up like a cat that’d caught a bird. What had felt strange and uncomfortable when he was intimidated by this handsome doctor felt like a fun game now that he had the upper hand. A smirk curled the ends of his lips, and he scooted his chair forward along the wood flooring, touching Oishi’s hand with his own, his fingers running along the other man’s. Fuji would be proud of how he’d taken charge of the situation.

“I-I just didn’t… understand,” Oishi tried desperately to clarify, even as those fingertips glided across his skin and left hot prickles in their absence, and left his face feeling ever hotter. Soon those kind green eyes were wide open.

Eiji smiled gently, and wrapped his fingers around Oishi’s nervous hand. “Want to go out sometime?” he offered simply.

Oishi’s posture relaxed slightly, “Yes,” he breathed, his answer coming fast. “A-absolutely. Kikumaru-san, I’ve… I’ve really had the biggest crush on you since you came over to visit. It’s been driving me crazy.” It felt liberating to admit, and Oishi found himself laughing at his own expense.

Eiji chuckled and squeezed Oishi’s hand, “I had the biggest crush on _you_. I couldn’t even look at you.”

“Th-that’s the same with me,” Said Oishi hurriedly, “I-I didn’t think I could face you without making a fool of myself.” His open hand latched onto Eiji’s free hand, and he laughed at how absurd they both sounded.

“Did you think about kissing me?” Eiji challenged, and Oishi grew flustered, then realized Eiji was toying with him. He smiled, and lifted Eiji’s fist to his lips and let it brush across them softly, following that up by leaning across the table and meeting their lips softly. Oishi recalled it as being the most relaxing kiss he’d ever had.

Eventually, Eiji giggled and broke it off, though he nuzzled Oishi’s nose as if they’d been doing that for years. “Want to meet up tomorrow, seven?”

Oishi nodded. And they snuck in another kiss for good measure.

The two of them sat up from the table, Oishi unfortunately having to catch his train home. As he rose to his feet, a white slip of paper fell from his shirt pocket, and despite his attempt to hurriedly pick it up, Eiji had swiped it out of the air with a blur of his hand. “What’s this?” Without waiting for an answer, he unfolded it, and glanced it over. It looked like an official doctor’s prescription sheet, with predictably messy writing along the bottom.

“I-it’s just. It’s really not anything…”

_“Prescription: One date with Dr. Oishi”_

Eiji read it once. Then a second time, then laughed so hard he squeaked, and buried his face in Oishi’s chest for a tight hug. He loved him already.


End file.
